Famicom Dojo Video Game Podcast

Latest Episodes:

93: Crossovers and Cameos May 02, 2014

Show notes

Recent installments of the Super Smash Bros. series have included characters from third party companies as fighters joining the Nintendo menagerie. Game developers often hide references to their other titles in some of their games, either by obscure references or through sharing characters -- sometimes where they don't really belong. Gamers seem to enjoy these cross-overs and in=jokes... but why?
Vinnk and Sean share their favorite cameos in well-known games as well as more obscure titles. Future Retro looks more at the recent past, and Pile of Shame spans a couple of generations.
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

92: The (PlayStation) Death of Consoles Apr 15, 2014

Show notes

While the rest of the world is picking up the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at an admirable pace (sorry, Wii U), the former was only just released earlier this year in Japan, and the latter is not yet on store shelves. The latest Nintendo Direct makes it seem like the company doesn't understand that they need to support the Wii U over the 3DS with games like Smash Bros., but perhaps the situation underscores a deeper problem.
Sean and Vinnk discuss what happened to all of the console gamers, where they went, and what it means for the future of game companies if it all goes away forever. Maybe Nintendo's mobile strategy isn't so short-sighted after all.
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

91: Needs More Polys Apr 08, 2014

Show notes

We're four generations deep into reasonably realistic 3D graphics based on nothing more than colored triangles, but if you go back to the first fully 3D console graphics the picture isn't so pretty. And yet we loved these games all the same. Was it am amazing as we thought, or were we just kidding ourselves?
Vinnk and Sean try to take off their rose-colored glasses and give a serious look to the Nintendo 64, Playstation, and Sega Saturn. What game franchises were born in that generation? Which ones met their untimely end?
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

90: Your Friend's House Apr 01, 2014

Show notes

We take a trip over to our friend's house where everything sounds different. Er, where you play the games that you didn't play at your house because you didn't own the system, didn't own the game, weren't ALLOWED to own the system or game, or just like the atmosphere better than at your place. And for this episode, we invited a few friends over to our house!
Zac (@ZacShipley), aDam (@aDamRulz), and Ernie of No Topic Required (@NoTopicRequired) take over the show for this April Fool's Day episode. Supposedly Sarah Rattle (@SarahRattle) was there too, but we sure didn't hear her!
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

89: Audio Bonus Mar 14, 2014

Show notes

Sometimes the show runs a little long, or goes completely off-topic. That's when we create an audio bonus, exclusively for the website! When we first started the podcast, we fully intended to create such extra content to help drive traffic back to the website since there was no other way to listen to it. But, as it turns out, people just don't find that enticing! So, despite the desire to keep things "exclusive", we want to share these audio bonuses with you in a way that most listeners will actually be able to hear it. They're just so good!
Sean and Vinnk comb the three year history of the Famicom Dojo Podcast for its best extras, and put them into this one episode: Vinnk unveils the hidden secret behind the unlicensed developer Color Dreams, Sindra and Vinnk bond over their love of Silent Hill, Sean gives a brief history of Superman films, and also explains how he got started making videos... before he was old enough to shave.
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

87: Every Game is Terrible (Except the One You Like) Feb 28, 2014

Show notes

In the ever-shifting landscape of video game development, there are major players and the scrappy underdogs. Kickstarter has given smaller studios a bigger voice, but back in the day before the Internet was a thing, which companies set themselves apart? And which ones have fallen apart since?
Sean and Vinnk talk about their favorite publishers and developers of today, the classics of yesteryear, and ponder whatever the heck happened to them. Some evolved, some, disbanded, and some should be put out of their misery. Did your favorites make the list?
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

86: Rad Sports Games Feb 21, 2014

Show notes

Before EA, official sports titles were more spread out, and used in all kind of ways. Games like NBA Jam are hard to come by these days (barring updates to NBA Jam). Before annual installments of Year of the Same Game, you had crazy sports game ideas that were one and done. These weren't simulators, like we have today, but imaginitive riffs on the sports to make up for any technical proficiency that hardware of the time may have had. And that's what makes them Rad Sports Games.
Vinnk and Sean talk about their favorite titles, including the aforementioned NBA Jam, Punch Out, Bases Loaded (and a bunch of other weird baseball games), and even Scotti Pippen's Slam City! If you've never played it before, why... it sure is something else. Will we ever see their like again? Aside from EA picking up the IP for NBA Jam from Midway, that is...
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

85: Remakes vs. Reboots Feb 14, 2014

Show notes

Sometimes a game gets a second life on a new platform or console, typically with upgraded graphics, additional sound effects and/or voices, and additional Internet-enabled features only a Millennial could love. Sometimes a familiar name is slapped onto an entirely new game that seeks to upend the status quo for the franchise and provide a clean slate -- usually with a new developer, and sometimes a new publisher -- to begin totally anew.
Sean and Vinnk compare video game remakes to reboots, decide which games deserved them, and which actually got them, and which ones they ended up playing and liking anyway.
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

84: Free 2 Play Feb 07, 2014

Show notes

Phil Bond on the subject of f2p gaming: "When you make a game where paying any money whatsoever feels like cheating, that has to be a mistake -- right?" Or, as Vinnk puts it, you can pay to play more, or pay to play less. Sometimes both in the same game. Just don't say that Nintendo should follow this model, or... we'll say something not nice, or something.
Vinnk and Sean trade stories of their particular Free-2-Play addictions (Puzzles and Dragons, and Candy Crush, respectively), and their guilt over never paying any money for these games, leaving it to "whales" to support the entire system. And Vinnk may have inadvertently made his daughter into a gold farmer.
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

83: Broken Age of Adventure Gaming Jan 24, 2014

Show notes

Spearheading the revival of adventure games, Broken Age Act 1 was released last week on Steam for the Kickstarter backers (and press reviewers). A decision to black out reviews until later in January was reversed only a couple of days after the game came out. Broken Age is just that good. Even though we haven't finished it (as of recording this episode), we wholeheartedly agree that it will become an instant classic.
Sean and Vinnk talk about what killed the adventure game for our generation, revel in its revival thanks to companies like TellTale and Doublefine, and crowdsourcing for an explosion of indie games on websites like Kickstarter. We can't agree on just what an adventure game is, exactly, but that's part of the fun, right?
"Famicom Thrash" and "RPG" theme songs by the Imari Tones: http://imaritones.net.
This podcast is brought to you by the Famicom Dojo Video Series. Train Your Game at https://youtube.com/famicomdojo.

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